Jack G.

Please Review the following: In short... BAD NEWS!

Travelzoo Inc. June 25,2013
590 Madison Avenue
37th Floor
New York, NY *******

I would like to call your attention to an issue that I had with the use of a Travel Zoo Voucher for the Commerce Club, Atlanta, purchased on May 21,2013 and redeemed on June 21,2013 (attached).

The voucher stated that it was "valid for a dinner for 2 people consisting of 2 appetizers, 2 entrees and 2 desserts from the current dinner menu (some menu item exclusions apply). All other items including alcoholic beverages may be purchased a la carte. Voucher and all other items purchased are subject to a mandatory 20% service charge (in lieu of gratuities) on retail value, and applicable taxes, which must be paid by credit or debit card."

Additionally, the Travelzoo Website stated: "Dinner includes any dishes from the full menu, including:
• Any two appetizers, such as the mushroom risotto ($12) and roasted beet and goat cheese salad ($11)
• Any two entrees, like the pan-fried branzino ($26) and grilled ribeye ($31)
• Any two desserts, including the chocolate hazelnut torte ($8) and strawberry shortcake ($7)"

My issue has to do with how the mandatory 20% gratuity was calculated. The Commerce Club on-duty manager that evening stated that the gratuity should be $24.20. My calculation, based on the above rules, put that same gratuity at $16.20, a difference of $8.

The reason for the difference is how the term "on retail value" is defined. To me, "on retail value" means the cost of the voucher ($59), plus the cost of any additional alcoholic beverages that my spouse and I consumed ($16). That amount totals to $75 and with 8% tax is $81. This amount we both agree on and is correctly reflected on my ticket from The Commerce Club that night (attached). I believe that the 20% gratuity should have been applied to the $81, which would have been $16.20 (and not $24.20.) Those two amounts total to $97.20, and if you subtract the Travelzoo Voucher from that, it leaves $38.20, which is the total remaining amount that we should have paid (and not $46.20.)

Instead, the Commerce Club added all the values of the food items as they appeared on their menu. That amount was $105.20. They then applied the 20% gratuity to the $105.20, arriving at a gratuity charge of $24.20, which appears on the ticket.

When I explained this to the manager, he stated that their interpretation of "on retail value" meant that they had to add up all the individual food items on the menu ($105.20), applying the gratuity to that, rather than to the $81, even though the cost for the individual food items on the ticket are shown as $0's.

While $8 is not going to make or break the Gregory family, I would suggest that, at best, the restaurant came up with a creative way to scam a few extra dollars from folks using the voucher, or at worst, conspired with Travelzoo to engage in an intentional deceptive practice. The Travelzoo website states that 418 of these vouchers were sold, which would land The Commerce Club a tidy $3,344, assuming that all vouchers were used the way ours was.

$3,000 is serious money. Enough so that you folks need to better define exactly what "on retail value" means. If it is what I believe the "average" person would think it to be, then the gratuity should be based on the cost of the voucher plus anything additional that is ordered, and NOT on the actual menu pricing, which is shown as $0's on the ticket.

Sincerely,

Jack Gregory
3275 Highborne Circle NE
Marietta, GA *******

Cc:

Mr. Everett Butler, Manager
The Commerce Club
191 Peachtree St. NE
49th Floor
Atlanta, GA *******

GEORGIA GOVERNOR'S OFFICE OF CONSUMER PROTECTION
2 MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. DRIVE SE, SUITE 356
ATLANTA, GEORGIA *******-9077